In The Beginning: The Garden Part I
by Cattttt1
Summary: Everyone starts somewhere, even angels.
1. Chapter 1

I have a confession to make.

I didn't come up with this idea on my own.

One day, while strolling through GO videos, I came across one called **BAD LIAR by Tbl - some Doodles**. If you have not seen this video, close this, open Utube and search it. It is well worth the effort.

This is without doubt the CUTEST GO video out there.

Go now! Stop wasting time. Watch it, then come back. This series will make a lot more sense to you if you do.

**IN THE BEGINNING: THE GARDEN**

**PART I**

"Aziraphale!"

The head of one of the younger angels in the room snapped up suddenly, a wide grin on his face.

"Hurricane Juriel, in coming!" He shouted.

The other fledglings at the long table quickly jumped to the other side until only Aziraphale was left sitting alone.

The smaller angel didn't seem to even notice the commotion, but simply continued on in his work. Bent over a piece of paper, he diligently was coloring away on it at the long bench where he sat.

Sure enough, with the force of an incoming hurricane, a swirl of red hair and white robes flew into the room. Bright green eyes quickly sought out their target and made a bee line for him.

"Aziraphale!"  
Through the rush of activity, the head of full blond hair never once looked up from the piece of paper. But the smile was there none the less.

Aziraphale had been friends with Juriel almost from the day they were created.

Smaller than the other fledgling's, Aziraphale never seemed to fit in with the others. Even next to those of his own age, he was smaller, which tended to make him the target of a lot of teasing and harassment, which only served to make the little angel even more less sure of himself. So Aziraphale tended to simply try to blend in with whatever furniture was around.

His original guardian, Haniel, tried to get the young angel out of his shell, but nothing worked. Even the exuberant, never-met-a-stranger Juriel seemed to want little to do with him at first. So Haniel took the fledgling under his own wing, so to speak, and became his mentor.

An older angel of Haniel's rank taking a special interest in the introverted fledgling one would think would gain Aziraphale some moderate amount of respect from his peers. But it seemed to have just the opposite effect. The teasing and harassment of the young angel only seemed to escalate until one day a small group of juvenile angels cornered the fledgling on his own and began to tease him worse than ever. Coming across the 'game', but staying out of sight, Juriel watched the game escalate until one of the older angel unexpectedly took a swing at Aziraphale.

It probably wasn't meant to connect, but it did. And the sound of it broke something in Juriel.

He had been watching the little angel for some time, trying to figure him out. Though not part of Juriel's training group, he still found the littler angel an interesting puzzle.

Most of the fledglings, Juriel had decided, were like him. They were curious about everything, eager to make friends and allies, and had a certain mistrust of the much older angels. But this one seemed the total opposite of everything Juriel took stock in. Instead of being cautious around the older angels, the little one seemed to seek them out on purpose. And if he wasn't in the company of an older angel, he seemed to prefer his own. More than once Juriel had found the smaller angel sitting at a bench by himself, a large book on the table before him as he studiously read it, quickly flipping the pages as he went.

His solitary nature certainly didn't win him any points with his peers either. They weren't exactly cruel to him. But no one seemed to go out of their way to try and make a friend of him either. Often times Juriel would sit and watch the littler angel sitting at a table with his books as he watched the others playing some game and noted that at times he looked a bit sad. Like he wished he fit in more. But then he would pick up one of his books and disappear into his private world of white pages.

The older juvenile angels were another story altogether. No sooner had they zeroed in on the loner, than they seemed to make it their personal task to pester him. Juriel hated this the most. But the angels were usually in a group when the teasing started, and he was just one. What could he do?

That day Juriel decided what he had to do. The teasing, the harassment, the occasional jostle were one thing.

Physical abuse was something else, and Juriel knew this was something that would get the others into serious trouble if it were known.

Stepping out from behind the wall where he was watching, Juriel sauntered over to the group as best a fledgling could saunter, not stopping until he came to stand next to Aziraphale.

The group of older angels stood watching, unsure of how much the fledgling may have seen. For a few seconds the silent standoff continued until one of the older angels stepped forward.

"This is none of your business, Juriel." The older one stated. "Shove off."

"I'm making it my business." Juriel replied, trying to look as tough and confident as he could. It wasn't really too hard. He knew he held the winning card in this game.

Reaching out a hand, he offered it to the fledgling on the ground.

Hesitating for a moment, Aziraphale finally accepted the help back to his feet.

Juriel turned back to face his adversary. "Or maybe you just don't like the odds now. Two against five? But I'm fair." He gave a cocky grin. "If you like, you can go and find some more of your friends." Juriel stepped right up to the older angel, who towered a good two feet above him. "Then maybe we can have a proper fight." He stated, staring down the older angel.

Playing his card, Juriel watched as the others, realizing he had seen the hit, slowly started to abandon their companion.

"Come on, Missa." One of them called. "It isn't worth a bit of fun."

Watching them walk off until he was sure they were gone, Juriel huffed at them and turned back to the other fledgling, who was watching him, Juriel quickly noted, like a small bird watches a snake.

"Here," Juriel stated, reaching out a hand again and this time brushing back a bit of the tussle of blond hair from the other angel's forehead, "let me look at that."

A red mark was clearly visible on Aziraphale cheek, but he quickly pulled away.

"Forget it." He stated softly, turning to the floor.

"Forget it?" Juriel echoed in disbelief. "They hit you! That isn't allowed.

"If it was in anger." Aziraphale corrected. "They were just...playing."

"Well, it looks like their play got out of hand and you should report them to their guardian."

Aziraphale started off. "I said forget it."

Juriel watched the other fledgling walk off, looking about as dejected as a person could with slumped shoulders and bowed head.

Shaking his own head, Juriel started after him.

Walking next to him in silence for a bit, Juriel finally looked over at the other fledgling. "Sorry?" He asked.

Aziraphale gave him sideways look. "What?"

"Your name, I didn't quite catch it."

Aziraphale turned back to the floor before him. "I didn't give it to you."

They walked along for a bit in silence again. "I'm Juriel." He finally offered.

Aziraphale turned back to the other angel. "Uriel?"

Juriel frowned deeply. Why was his name so difficult for others to say correctly? "No. Listen this time. Jur-i-el. You don't say it like one word. You pronounce ever syllable. And the 'J' is NOT silent!" he emphasized.

Aziraphale considered the instructions and tried again.

"Jur...i-el."

That's it."

Aziraphale frowned at him. "That's weird."

Juriel shrugged off the comment. "So what's your name?"

"Aziraphale."

The other gave a snort.

"What?"

"Like you have room to talk about names." Juriel replied with another small laugh.

But he was even more pleased to hear the other echo it with his own soft laughter.

And from that moment forward the two became friends. Each using their own strengths to try and balance the other. Aziraphale tried to help Juriel stay out of trouble, while Juriel tried to protect his friend from being picked on while also teaching him to stand up for himself better.

It was all part of growing up in heaven.

A few days later, Aziraphale was called into the head guardian's office where he was instructed he was being placed under a new guardian.

While Aziraphale suspected this was because of the 'incident', he was told that his old guardian was given a new task and all his wards were reassigned.

The guardians main jobs were to train the new angels in how things were done in heaven and in God's newest creation. In addition they watched over the fledglings and try to ascertain what their special gifts might be that would later put them on the path to their own assignments. But while most guardians stayed with their charges through most of their training, it wasn't unheard of for a guardian to be sent to a new assignment rather suddenly and his charges get reassigned.

Aziraphale hated to lose Haniel as his guardian. He had come to genuinely like the older angel, even if he was gruff at times with his charges.

But what Aziraphale liked the most about him was that Haniel knew stories. And he would often sit around after training was done and tell them to his charges. Many stayed and listened. But the one who was always there was Aziraphale, listening intently to every word.

Aziraphale's suspicions about what happened grew deeper roots when he learned all five of his tormentors had been put into separate groups under the strictest of the guardians. Two of them were even assigned under Michael and Gabriel for special duties in addition to their other lessons.

But Aziraphale's new guardian, Vangelis was delighted with his new charge. Given a 'heads up' by Haniel of the young angel's past, Vangelis gave just as much attention to Aziraphale as Haniel had, keeping him safely tucked under his wing.

Unfortunately Vangelis soon learned, as the two fledglings friendship grew stronger, this also usually meant Juriel was under there too.

But the friendship definitely worked for the shy Aziraphale. The other fledglings in the group had taken a quick liking to Juriel as soon as the group was put together. As Vangelis noted everyone seemed to at first. 'Until you get to know him.' he often lamented. But the younger angels just seemed drawn to the exuberant and often mischievous Juriel. And now, by default, Aziraphale also. But it was Aziraphale who seemed to claim the spot of 'best friend'. And so Juriel had unwittingly helped his friend gain acceptance into his new group.

With a carefully worked out maneuvering of his wings, Juriel easily slid onto the bench next to his friend with well practiced precision. But his enthusiasm quickly pulled back in at the sound of his own name.

"Juriel!"

"In for it now." Aziraphale whispered to him.

Juriel immediately reigned in his enthusiasm as quickly as his wings, becoming all business as he hopped back off the bench and turned to the older angel.

"Vangelis." He answered quickly, a wide grin on his face still. "Um..., Hi!"

"Hello, Juriel." The other replied with high formality, the tight fold of his wings against his body and the frown on his face a clear showing of his gathering irritation at the miniature whirlwind. "Tell me something, child," he asked, looking down with some disapproval at the fledgling's barely contained excitement, "do you have any two speeds other than full throttle and full stop?"

The little angel gave the question serious consideration, then turned back to him with the same broad grin. "Nope!"

Vangelis gave a sigh. "I thought not." He stated dismally as he walked away.

Juriel waited until he left to talk to another fledgling before turning back to his friend and giving his arm a solid shake.

"Have you heard yet!" He ask, the enthusiasm building again at a rapid pace as he hopped back up next to Aziraphale on the bench.

Aziraphale continued on in his task of intricately drawing on a sheet of paper.

"Heard what?" He ask, not looking up.

But as quickly as always, Juriel shifted his focus as the drawing captured his full attention now. "What are you doing?" He ask.

"Drawing." Aziraphale answered with a sigh. Why did Juriel always have to ask questions to the obvious?

"Drawing what?"

Aziraphale pulled the paper out of view and fixed a stare on his friend. "Juriel, what did you want?"

The red haired angel tried to grab for the paper. "To see what your drawing."

He knew Aziraphale was very self conscious about his drawings, though he had no idea why. The littler angel was an excellent artist, and he could come up with some incredibly interesting things. Things no one had ever seen before. Even the guardians took special note of these drawings. This made Juriel all the more determined to be the first to see the fledgling's newest creation.

Aziraphale did his best to keep the paper out of Juriel's grasping hands. But while being distracted by his friend, one of the other fledgling's who had fled to the other side of the table earlier managed to grabbed the paper from Aziraphale and gave it a quick look over.

"Oh, it's one of his stars again." he stated in disappointment. "What's this one called, Aziraphale?" He ask, handing the paper back to the other angel with no great interest.

Aziraphale grabbed the paper. "It isn't your name, that's for sure, Murie."

The other fledgling rolled his eyes and slipped back off the bench and hurried over to where two of the other fledglings were talking with Vangelis.

Juriel took the distraction to grab the paper himself. But this time Aziraphale made no attempt to reclaim it as the other looked it over with interest.

"Well?" Aziraphale finally asked.

Juriel tilted his head slightly to look at the drawing from another angle. "This one's pretty good." He answered finally. "But all your drawings are good. But with this one..., I like the green color."

"Vangelis said I have a propen...prepon...prens...he said I'm good at pictures." Aziraphale announced proudly. "He said that's the first step to making things. Being able to visualize them."

Juriel handed the paper back to his friend. "I don't think I'm good at anything." He stated solemnly, the smile quickly disappearing.

"'Cept making trouble." Aziraphale answered under his breath with a small smile.

"Pardon?"

"Nooooothiiiiiing!" Aziraphale drew out the answer.

Aziraphale hated when the other fledgling started down this path, and he always tried to pull him away from it as quickly as possible.

It was one of the few times he ever knew Juriel to get anything even close to morose. Juriel wanted to find his place. It was the whole point of this time in their existence. They were all created to serve, but it was up to each of them to figure out how they could do this best.

For Aziraphale, anything that had to do with creating something new peaked his interest.

But Juriel seemed to seriously struggle in this area. It wasn't that nothing struck his interest. Quite the opposite was the problem. It seemed more that every thing did, and Juriel couldn't focus on any one thing. No sooner did he seem to find one thing that sparked his interest, then something else grabbed his attention and he was off chasing a new possibility.

"What did you come running in here for anyway?" Aziraphale ask, putting some finishing touches on his picture.

Steered back to his previous train of thought, Juriel's face brightened again. "Oh, right!" He stated enthusiastically. "Have you heard what God's making!"

The word 'making' struck Aziraphale interest. This meant God was creating something new. And a chance to watch God creating something new usually overrode any caution on Aziraphale part.

"Something new?"

"In the garden." Juriel exclaimed. "Come on, let's go look!"

"Juriel, we can't!"

"Why not?"

"We're not suppose to leave heaven. That's against the rules."

"Wrong!" Juriel pointed out. "We can't leave heaven if someone knows about it. If they don't know and we don't get caught, what's the harm?"

"Juriel...!" Aziraphale lamented his friend's view of his actions.

"Aziraphale...!" J. quickly mimicked him. He had to find a way to sway him. Getting into mischief was fun. Getting into mischief with your best friend was better fun.

"We could get into trouble."

Juriel gave Aziraphale his most mischievous smile. "Or we could end up having a whole lot of fun."

Aziraphale was still sitting on the fence. But Juriel knew how to shove him over to his side.

"I heard what God was creating were some new animals in the garden. Really amazing ones. Ones that fly. Like we do."

Aziraphale head snapped up, his eyes lighting with excitement. "They fly!?"

Juriel nodded. "Michael said God has just started making them. And Michael knows everything that goes on in the garden."

But the statement caused Aziraphale's enthusiasm to go up in smoke. "Michael's in the garden?" He asked. "Juriel, we can't go into the garden when Michael's there. If he catches us it's a one way trip to God's office. And that never ends good."

"If we get caught." Juriel emphasized every word carefully for his friend. Still seeing Aziraphale not swaying completely to his side of things, Juriel went for one of his old standbys.

"You're just being stuffy again." He stated empirically.

Aziraphale rose to the bait like a fish after a lure. "I am not!"

Juriel turned off to the side to study the wall. "Yes, you are." He turned a bored expression back to his friend. "You know what your problem is, Aziraphale? You spent so much of your earliest time under the kind, direct tutelage of the guardians that you became just like them."

"Did not!"

"You did. You think like them, you act like them. I swear, your an old angel in a young body, that's what you are. You would never even think; no, not even conceive of breaking the smallest of rules. Even breaking a rule only you see." Juriel leaned back. "You might as well go put in to be a guardian when you grow up. Heck, 'when you grow up'. They'd probably take you in now.

As for me, training is over for the day, and I'm going to go have some fun while I can still claim ignorance and be forgiven. See ya'!"

And with that Juriel swung his legs around and slid off the bench, two wings unfurling from his back as he prepared to leave.

It wasn't in Aziraphale to feel a negative feeling against another person. But one thing did come very close. And that was Juriel's wings and how well he flew. Like he started the day he was created. Everyone said God must have made his wings first and just added the rest of him to them later.

Aziraphale watched his friend beat his wings a few times and give them a good shake as indecision ate at him.

Facing away from him, Juriel wondered how long he was going to have to play 'the wing game' for Aziraphale to give in. He fluffed them a few more times, pretended to carefully look over the tip of one, readjusted them again...

"Wait!"

Juriel smiled slightly as he listened to the footsteps running to catch up.

Sometimes this was just too easy!

Juriel turned as Aziraphale carefully folded his paper and tucked it into his robe.

He gave the smaller angel an approving smile. "Ready then?"

Aziraphale paused, mustered up a smile of his own, and nodded.

Juriel grabbed his hand. "Then lets go have some fun."

Sneaking down one hallway after another, Juriel finally came to the one he was looking for. At the end of the hallway was a large blue door, over which hung a placard with GARDEN inscribed on it in large, elegant, golden letters.

Juriel took a look up and down the corridor they were in and then quickly pulled Aziraphale after him towards the blue door.

But instantly the hand, which had been totally compliant up till now, pulled back.

Juriel turned back to his friend, knowing time was critical and they could get caught at any moment.

"Come on!" Juriel pulled on his hand again as he whispered to him. "We have to go quickly."

But Aziraphale pulled back again, answering in the same hushed whisper. "Juriel, can't we get there some other way than through a gateway?"

The other fledgling gave the request a surprised reaction. "What? No. This is the only way."

Again the hand pulled back. "No. There are other ways to get down there. Can't we use one of them? The stairs! We can use the stairs."

Juriel turned back to his friend again. "Aziraphale, what is wrong with you? The stairs take forever. This is much faster. Come on."

But Aziraphale pulled back again. "I can't use the gateway, Juriel." He stated firmly.

"What?" Juriel quickly scanned the corridor again, then turned a desperate stare on his friend. "Why not!?"

"I just can't." Aziraphale whispered back, looking close to a breakdown of some sort. "I'm sorry. I just can't."

Juriel was rapidly approaching his own breakdown. "WHY! NOT?!"

"I...I get...disoriented...in the gateway."

Juriel froze. "Disoriented?" He replied finally. "This is all because you get a little dizzy? Half the angels get dizzy using the gateways, Aziraphale. It's not a reas..."

"It's more than that." the other fledgling stated firmly again, but still in the same hushed tone. "It's...I can't land well."

Juriel stared at him for several seconds in utter silence. Finally he ask, "That's it? I mean, is that really all of it?"

Aziraphale paused, then quickly nodded.

Juriel sighed loudly, then suddenly grabbed the other's hand again and made a run for the door. "Still not a good reason!"

Aziraphale tried to stop his friend, but they were already through the doorway before he could even think what to do to stop him.

As soon as they were through the door, Juriel turned back the other fledgling and yanked on his hand so hard that Aziraphale literally crashed onto him.

Afraid they would both fall, Aziraphale tried to regain his footing, but felt himself instead grabbed in an embrace that gave him no room to move, held tightly against the other's body.

He could feel them come out on the other side of the gateway and looked down to see the garden far below them as gateways usually opened in the air. His greatest fear.

But instantly two white wings opened above them and Aziraphale felt the air catch under them as they briefly lifted back into the air.

"Hold on!" Juriel yelled at him as he banked his wings and they turned to the side and began a rapid descent.

A solid, unbroken scream followed them all the way to the ground as Aziraphale clutched tightly onto his friend for dear life


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, I know canon states it never rained before the humans were exiled from the garden.

What happens in this part comes from two facts:

One: I never read the book.

Two: I never saw the show.

People are lining up already to hit me with wet noodles.

**IN THE BEGINNING: THE GARDEN**

**PART II**

Juriel used his wings like a glider. But with the extra weight, they came in faster than even he could control. Nor could he right them for a smooth landing and they ended up hitting the garden floor and tumbling across the ground until they finally came to a stop.

Aziraphale slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. Next to him, Juriel was upside down against a tree, laughing like crazy.

"That was GREAT!" He yelled out. "I didn't think we would make it!"

Aziraphale continued to rub his neck. "I don't think we did."

"We need to try that again one day!" Juriel stated, rolling off the tree and righting himself. Turning around he nearly ran straight into the stern face of his best friend, glaring back at him.

But as he watched, the sternest began to melt as Aziraphale's gaze slipped away from Juriel and began to slowly take in the scene behind him.

Juriel watched with a smile as the anger was quickly replaced with pure awe as Aziraphale's eyes took in the wonder that surrounded him.

"Ohhhhhh..., look at this place!" Aziraphale stated in an ecstatic whisper. "It's amazing! God just keeps adding new things to it."

"Told you." Juriel stated as his friend quickly pulled himself up to his feet and took off down a small path, marveling at everything around him.

Juriel shook his head with a smile, then pulled himself up and hurried off after his friend.

This wasn't the first time in the garden for either of them. But Juriel definitely had more experience. Before Aziraphale had joined their training group, Vangelis had taken the fledglings there at least every few days passing.

But the field trips had tapered off as they got older, and now they seemed to rarely get to go here anymore.

Aziraphale couldn't seem to pass one thing without wanting to touch it, smell it, or see if it tasted as good as it looked. Thankfully, nothing in the garden was dangerous. But Aziraphale did end up spitting out a few plants that didn't quite pass the 'looks good, should taste better' test.

All the while, Juriel just seemed to enjoy being among the plants. He wandered in and out of them, stroking leaves and patting the trunks of trees. He loved being in the garden more than anything else and snuck down here as often as he could manage. But now that he had enticed his best friend to join him, the whole adventure was just that much better.

Suddenly a screech from above them caused both fledglings to stop in their tracks. Now in a small clearing, they both looked up to see a small creature in the air above them. It was like a small ground creature, but just as Juriel had said, it had wings like they did.

And it could fly!

Aziraphale gave a delighted shriek and suddenly ran after the small creature.

"Aziraphale!" Juriel called after him. "Wait!"

Fortunately for Juriel, the creature flew into some trees and Aziraphale lost sight of it.

"Did you see that?!" Aziraphale cried out, pointing to the sky as he turned back to his friend. "That had to be one of the new creatures God created. I wonder what it is?"

"No idea. God just creates them. She never names them. She said someone else will do that."

Just then a soft rumble echoed above them.

"What's that" Aziraphale ask, looking about nervously.

Before Juriel could even speculate an answer, a drop of water hit Aziraphale in the face, followed by several more that increased in succession.

Aziraphale never once moved to get away from the water falling out of the sky. Instead he stood staring up at it as though utterly transfixed by it.

"Juriel," he ask in a soft whisper. "What is this?"

Juriel shook the water off his sleeve with a frown. "Wet. Lets get out of here."

Aziraphale turned suddenly to him. "You don't like it?"

"It's water out the sky." He replied solemnly. "What's to like?"

Aziraphale spread out his arms and ran about in the downfall. "But this is wonderful!" He exclaimed. "It feels wonderful. It smells wonderful. How can you not like this?"

Juriel stood under a tree and worked to try and squeeze some more of the constantly replaced water out of his robes.

"I'm working on it." he replied with a deeper frown.

Aziraphale continued running about in the water. "I love this!" He kept exclaiming. "I wish I could name it."

Juriel watched his friend. "And what would you call it?"

"Wonderful!"

"'Wonderful' is a discription, not a thing." He corrected blandly.

Aziraphale's enthusiasm didn't diminish one bit at the criticism. "I can't understand how you can't like this, Juriel!"

"What?" the other ask, he frown still steadfastly in place. "The actual thing, or running around it in, waving my arms like an idiot? I don't have to work real hard on either one, Aziraphale."

Before Aziraphale could reply back, a sudden flash of light split through the air close to them, followed by a sudden loud noise that shook the ground under them.

Juriel didn't waste a second as he sprinted from under the tree and, grabbing Aziraphale's hand, ran off into the forest again.

"Sounds to me like your 'wonderful' just got really angry about something!" He shouted as the water began to fall more rapidly around them.

Several moments later the two sat under an over hanging rock. One simply stared out at the falling water while the other was eagerly wringing it out of his robes again.

"Your 'wonderful' is a mess." he stated between clenched teeth.

A less enthusiastic "Uh-huh." was the only answer he got.

Juriel turned to his friend. "What's up now?" He ask.

Aziraphale seemed to consider the question for a few moments. "I was just thinking of Haniel. I wonder if his new assignment was to the garden. Maybe he's down here somewhere."

Juriel knew Aziraphale missed his old guardian. He often speculate where he was. What he had been sent away to do that was urgent enough to warrant separating him from his charges.

Why God had sent his first friend away from him with no real explanation.

"Juriel?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to leave, are you?"

"Leave?" the other fledgling asked with a furrowed brow. "And go where?"

Aziraphale shrugged. "Just leave. You know..., like leave me."

"Leave you!?" Juriel ask in genuine surprise. "Why would I leave you, Aziraphale?"

The smaller angel shrugged again. "Haniel left. I just figured one day you would leave too."

Juriel stared at him for a moment. "I'm not going anywhere, Aziraphale." He tried to reassure him.

Aziraphale didn't reply, but continued instead to stare out at the falling water, which had slowed down in the past few moments.

Juriel nudged his shoulder a little, getting Aziraphale to look at him. "Hey," he said softly, "you're my best friend. I'm never going to leave you. And if something happens and I have to go away for a while, I promise I won't forget you while I'm gone, OK?"

"Will you come back?" Aziraphale ask, though to Juriel's ears it sounded more like a plea.

Juriel gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course, I'll come back." He hated Aziraphale's sudden fear that they would some day be separated.

Maybe because somewhere in him, it echoed his own. He'd never really thought about it before, but just because they were in training together didn't mean they stayed together. After training, they could very well be separated and he would never see his best friend again.

"I know!" Juriel stated with sudden inspiration and the total wisdom of a fledgling, "If one day some one tries to separate us, we can...we'll just run away...together."

Aziraphale stared back at him. "Run away?"

"Sure. We'll find a place and go hide there. No one will find us."

Aziraphale gave a small laugh. "Where could we hide that God wouldn't be able to find us? She knows all the good hiding places."

"Then we'll just have to find some new ones." He stated, reaching out from under the rock with his hand. "Let go see what we can find. It looks like your 'Wonderful' has stopped."

Walking through the garden, the two never seemed to run out of new things to marvel at. The garden had hundreds of new creations they had never seen before. But Aziraphale kept going back to his 'Wonderful'. It had made the whole garden a wet, cool, shining place now. Totally different from when they had first gotten there.

"I've never seen anything like this before." He exclaimed for the hundredth time as Juriel mouthed the same words next to him. "When we get back, I'm going to ask Vangelis about it."

Juriel suddenly pulled his friend to a stop. "Whoa!" He stated. "Aziraphale, you can't talk to anybody but me about anything we've seen, remember?"

"Oh, right." the fledgling acknowledged.

Walking along a path that took them up the side of a hill, Juriel turned and looked back at the small valley they had walked through. Of all of the plants in the garden, these seemed to be least vibrant to him. Their leaves seemed less green, and they seemed to droop.

Plodding happily along the makeshift path full of small pebbles, Aziraphale suddenly stopped and looked around. Something was wrong. He had felt it a short while before, but tried to ignore it. But now it was nagging at him.

Looking around, he suddenly notice his friend wasn't by his side any longer. A mild panic settled in at first, but quickly dissipated as Aziraphale looked back down the path a good ways to see Juriel standing there, thoughtfully looking at a group of plants in front of him.

Shrugging, Aziraphale worked his way back to where Juriel was standing. His friend didn't even seem to notice him when he came up alongside him.

"What's up? He asked.

At first Juriel didn't say anything, but finally he turned to his friend, nodding to the patch of plants in front of him. "They seem a little sad, don't you think?"

Aziraphale turned back to the plants. "I guess...a little."

Juriel looked down at the path they had been following. "I think it's because of this." He stated, kicking a few of the pebbles beneath his feet. "I think this used to be a stream, and they lived alongside of it. But now it's gone dry and that made them sad."

Aziraphale directed his attention up ahead of them. "What do you suppose happened to the stream?" He ask. "Why did it go away?"

Jurial walked past him. "Don't know. But lets see if we can find it."

Aziraphale shrugged and hurried after him.

After walking what seemed a very long way, and most of it at a slightly steep climb in some parts, the two came to stand on top of a large hill. At the end of the dry stream bed had been a large earthen wall that they had had to climb along the sides of the reach the top. All in all, it was a fairly impressive structure. At the top of it, on the other side of the earthen dam, they found themselves facing a large lake of clear blue water.

"Well, that answers that question." Juriel said almost to himself.

Aziraphale turned to him. "Pardon?"

Juriel waved his hand out over the dam. "The answer to where the water went." He replied. "Something happened to cut off the flow of water."

"Something happened!?" Aziraphale stated in disbelief. "A dam happened, Juriel. Someone built a dam."

Juriel studied the structure for a moment, then shook his head. "Noooo. I don't think anyone built it." He answered. "I think the stream got blocked, and it just built up over time. Looks like a lot of loose sticks and dirt to me."

Aziraphale stared at his friend in amazement. "You can't be serious!?"

Juriel turned to him with a very serious expression. "What makes more sense to you, Aziraphale?" He ask. "That something happened, purely by coincidence, that blocked the stream, or someone purposefully made this dam to torture those poor plants down there by depriving them of water?"

Aziraphale turned back to the path they had taken. He remembered all the plants they had past along the way and how Juriel had constantly commented on how thirsty they looked. Then he considered the nagging thought someone had caused such suffering on purpose.

This was God's garden. Surely She wouldn't have allowed such a thing to cause any of Her creations to suffer.

No. Juriel was right. The dam had to be an accident.

"So what do we do?" He asked.

"Make a hole. Let the water start to flow down the stream bed again." Jureil answered confidently.

Aziraphale considered the suggestion, then nodded again. That sounded reasonable.

Walking over the top of the dam, the two came to the center of it.

"How do we make a hole?" Aziraphale ask.

"We just need to remove a few of the sticks and mud." he answered, looking about.

Reaching down, he selected a large branch that was sticking up out of the earthen dam and grabbed hold of it. With a solid tug, he tried to pull it free, but ended up on his back as the stick held firm.

Aziraphale gave a small laugh as his friend pulled himself back to his feet, dusting the dirt off his robes.

"Very successful." Aziraphale giggled. "Stick-One. Juriel - zero."

"Fine." Juriel snapped back at him. "You give it go then."

Looking around, Aziraphale selected a smaller stick that was more or less laying on the ground. Picking it up, he walked over to the same area Juriel was trying to dislodge the larger branch from and began digging a small trench in the dirt. Again and again he traced the same path in the earth as Juriel watched with a well masked interest. Finally Aziraphale's efforts made it to the level of the water and a small trickle began to work its way through his newly created opening.

Juriel watched as the water reached the end of teh channel and began to trickle down the dam's other side, and finally into the dry stream bed.

He looked up to meet his friend's self-satisfied smile.

"I meant free 'that' branch." he replied, pointing to his previous adversary.

Aziraphale held up a finger as he watched the small stream grow larger, then placed it to his lips.

Juriel gave a slight huff, then fell into dutiful silence.

After a few minutes, when the tiny trickle was now a free flowing stream through his cut channel, Aziraphale reached down and gave a pull on the branch.

With the weight of the dirt and other smaller sticks removed by the flow of the water, the branch now easily started to move. Aziraphale gave it a good tug, and while it moved, it stubbornly remained fixed in the earth.

"Here, let's both try." Juriel suggested.

Both grabbing the branch, Juriel looked over at his friend. "On three then," he said. "One, two...,"

They both shouted 'three' together and at the same time gave the branch a solid yank.

The branch sprang free, showing itself to be more than fifteen feet in length, and undercutting a large section of the dam.

With a main bracer removed, the water quickly became to displace the dirt that had been held in place by the branch, sweeping away the smaller branches and sticks that had been supported by the larger one.

Laying on his back, Juriel looked about quickly for his friend. But a sudden call pulled his attention to the water.

"Juriel! Help!"

Looking out, Juriel saw Aziraphale in the water on the lake's side, close to the edge, but being pulled by the current towards the opening, which was gaining ground in leaps and bounds as more and more water rusted through, making the hole grow ever wider.

Hands flailing in the water, Aziraphale did his best to gain traction and pull himself back to the shore. But the current kept knocking him off his feet and dragging him ever closer to the perilous opening.

"HELP!" he screamed again.

Looking frantically about, Juriel's eyes finally found the branch they had just pulled free. Grabbing it, he stuck it out to his friend.

"Aziraphale! Grab the branch! Grab the branch!" he yelled to him.

Aziraphale reached out and grabbed the offered branch, holding on for dear life as the current continued to move him towards the opening.

Moving with him along the shore, Juriel realized too late he was stepping ever closer to the water himself.

With one misplaced footing, he fell in.

Sputtering as he worked his feet against the lake bottom, Juriel managed to grab hold of the shore and began to fight to get back on dry ground. But by now Aziraphale had grabbed onto his robes, and with the added weight, he slipped again back into the current.

A loud, unified scream proceeded the two over the small, shallow falls created by the escaping water.

Sitting amid sticks and rocks under the waterfall, Aziraphale and Juriel watched the water rushing downhill in the once dry stream bed.

A look of desolation on his face, Aziraphale was sure his existence just ended.

"We are in sooooo much trouble." he stated.

Juriel failed to see the problem. "Why? We got the river flowing again. The plants will be happy now."

But a sudden sound above them caught Juriel's attention. Grabbing Aziraphale's hand, he managed to drag him from where they were sitting just as a large volume of mud suddenly came pouring over the top and landed directly where they had been sitting, splashing up over the sides of the creek bed and covering them both from head to foot in dirt.

Now coming in a torrent over the top, the water no longer adhered to the dry bed, but splashed up over the side and began running in various directions, all headed downhill towards the garden below, taking everything in its path with it.

"We are so dead." Aziraphale corrected his earlier statement.

Standing next to him, Juriel simply nodded.

At the bottom of the hill a short time later, two older angels stood surveying the damage the torrent of escaping water had caused.

All of the plants Juriel had earlier lamented over not having enough water now sat in their own content little shallow pond, albeit cluttered with debris from all the other sticks, rocks, and vegetation washed downhill.

One of the angels stood in painful silence as his older, more powerfully built red-haired counterpart surveyed the damage through narrow slits, a warning frown etched deeply on his lips.

Looking over the flooded hallow, the older angel suddenly reached slowly down and plucked a square piece of white paper out of the water. Shaking it off, he carefully unfolded it.

The frown increased as he studied the drawing inside.

The other cautiously ventured a glance. "What...what is it, Raphael?"

The taller angel turned the paper to him, clutched tightly in his hand.

On the other side of the white paper was a drawing of a star.

A bright, green star.

Carefully making their way down the hillside through the woods this time, the two fledglings were avidly discussing what their next steps should be.

"We can't go back to heaven just yet. We need to figure out just how mad everyone is first." Juriel was avidly pushing his plan to his smaller counterpart.

Through most of the journey, Aziraphale had said very little, staring mostly at the ground as he picked his way through the destruction the water had left behind.

How had this gone so wrong? All they were trying to do was give the plants back their water supply. Maybe that was all they needed to try to explain to Vangelis.

They didn't mean any harm.

They didn't mean to destroy any of the garden.

"Maybe we should just tell the truth?" Aziraphale suggested, speaking for the first time as he began absently patting himself down.

Juriel turned sharply to him. "Are you INSANE!? Do you ever want to see heaven again?"

"I just want to see my star again."

Juriel gave him a questioning look. "Your what?"

"My star." Aziraphale answered forlornly. "I can't find my drawing. I must have lost it along the way."

Juriel studied him for a moment. He was about to make a very cutting remark about his personal opinion of the importance of one piece of paper in regards to their current circumstances. But he quickly reflected on how much each drawing meant to Aziraphale.

"Maybe you dropped it on the way up." He suggested instead. "It which case it would have gotten caught in the water and we'll find it at the bottom of the hill."

Aziraphale turned a nervous stare to his friend. Slightly reassured, he turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. Juriel had suggested they might not ever see heaven again. But Aziraphale wasn't quite sure how he was ever going to see heaven again from the moment they left. The draw of the garden had blocked out any thoughts of, once he was down here, how he was ever going to get back through the gateway. The stairs were a long way off. And how was he going to explain to Juriel why he had to use them in the first place?

"Hey!" a voice cut into his thoughts, "Are you even listening, Aziraphale?"

Aziraphale turned back to him. "What?"

"I said, we need time to think." Juriel repeated. "We need a safe hiding place. Somewhere we can stay for a least a little while. Can you think of any place you saw today we could use?"

Aziraphale thought for a moment, but then shook his head.

Juriel sighed to himself as they continued down the hillside. "Well, keep thinking. We need to come up with a place soon."

Nearing the bottom they suddenly heard voices coming through the trees.

Juriel stopped in his tracks as Aziraphale came up next to him.

"Aziraphale?" He asked in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I think it's time to go find that hiding place we were talking about...like right now."

Aziraphale had already started to work his way backward up the hillside. "Agreed."

Both of them carefully began the backward trek up the hillside, never daring to take their eyes off the bottom of the hill where the trees began. But suddenly Aziraphale let out a small yelp as he ran into something solid behind him.

He paused for a moment as he turned to look at his best friend, perhaps for the last time. Then both fledglings finally looked up to see the face of Gabriel looking down at them.

"And where might that be, fledglings?" She ask.

Both fledglings simply stood with their mouths open, unable to think of a single thing to say.

"Maybe it might be in God's office?" The arch angel suggested with a small smile. "Why don't we all go look there together?"

While they sat in the pristine office in two chairs that were much too big for them, Juriel and Aziraphale past the time silently wondering what their punishment would be. Usually punishing fledglings was left to their trainers, so the two were a bit worried why they were brought before the Almighty.

Aziraphale was a bit relieved that the angels sent to find them had also apparently been tasked with the duty of making sure they were personally escorted back to heaven. All in all, it spelled out that he didn't have to fly back to heaven.

Juriel sat swinging his feet over the edge of the chair while Aziraphale looked like he would bolt given the slightest chance.

Juriel gave his friend a quick glance.

"What do you think they're going to do?"

Aziraphale looked close to tears as he shook his head.

Juriel went back to staring at the floor. He didn't want to push his friend as Aziraphale looked like he was at the breaking point already.

For a few seconds they sat in silence again.

"I think they're going to separate us." Aziraphale suddenly answered, "That's what always happens." A single tear slid silently down his cheek. "They separated the others when they got in trouble."

Juriel looked over at his friend again. "They wouldn't do that for this!"

Aziraphale turned back to him. "Juriel, we flooded half the garden! Raphael looked like he would have killed us himself and Gabriel was going to finish whatever was left."

Juriel could see the genuine fear in his best friend's eyes. "OK," Juriel stated, "if they plan to separate us, we need to have a plan too. To stay together."

Aziraphale looked interested. "A plan?"

"Yes. You remember, we talked about it in the garden. If they tried to separate us, we'd run away."

"Juriel, I told you, there's no place we can hide. They'll find us."

"Well, we'll never be able to do it with that attitude."

Aziraphale sighed quietly. "So what do you suggest?"

"I told you. We need a plan."

"What sort of plan?"

Juriel thought for a moment. "I think the first thing we need is a secret meeting place. So if they try to separate us, we'll know where the other one will be. So we can find each other."

Aziraphale considered the suggestion, then nodded. That sounded reasonable at the moment. "OK. Where?"

Juriel thought for a moment. "Well, we both know we can get into the garden," Juriel thought for a moment longer. "Do you remember that tree? It was a big one...seemed like the biggest one in the whole garden?"

Aziraphale nodded slowly. The tree was indeed memorable. Large and strong, it overshadowed any other plant they had seen. He remembered looking up through the branches and thinking he couldn't even see the top of it. But a lot of the branches were low hanging, and with help, he was sure they could have easily climbed it.

"We can meet there. And...and it would take them forever to find us in the garden. It's so big. And there are a lot of places to hide. We can start at the tree and keep changing hiding locations. We would have time to figure something out then."

Aziraphale paused. "I don't know, Juriel. I..."

"The main point is we would be together." Juriel pressed. "That's what's the most important thing, right? That we're together."

Aziraphale thought for a moment. A small smile finally appeared on his face as he nodded. "Under the tree."

Jurial returned the smile. "Under the tree."

Just as the decision was made, the door to the office opened and God entered, followed by two Dominions and the last person either of the angels wanted to see: Raphael.

Dressed in his bright red robes which matched his long flame red hair, the fledglings had often heard of the arch angel, and had on a few occasions seen him in passing, usually walking through the corridors with his creator.

Standing nearly seven feet tall and built more like he spent his existence doing physical labor than his assigned position of a healer, there were only two definite things the fledglings knew about the imposing arch angel.

One, if you were injured, Raphael was the first angel you wanted to see.

Two, if you had done something wrong, Raphael was the last angel you wanted to see.

In addition to his assigned position, Raphael was the one angel God would often defer punishments to. And since he was there, this was likely what their future held.

God slowly seated herself behind her desk and rested Her folded hands in front of Her on it as Raphael took his usual place on the right side of the desk. Arms clasp in front of him, he stared down at the two fledglings with a deep frown.

The two dominions took up residency on either side of the doors.

Juriel was quite sure this was to curtail any attempts at escape.

Before God's desk the two fledglings sat fidgeting like crazy. The blond haired one never took his eyes off the floor. But the red haired one kept his attention solidly fixed on the arch angel standing next to Her desk.

God gave a deep sigh. She just wasn't ready for this today. Bring Her anything...ANYTHING else in all of Her creation to deal with, except these two.

The two were already known to Her. Not for anything exceedingly bad. They just seemed to have a knack for trouble whenever they got together. She had gotten several reports from their trainer of minor offenses, which were expected of the fledglings as they learned the rules of heaven. But Juriel, the definite leader of the two, seemed to view rules as just nice suggestions. And his counterpart was all too happy most of the time to simply follow along.

Take their current circumstances, for instance. Both knew well they were never to go into the garden without an older angel with them. But they had directly disobeyed this order and snuck down to the garden, causing considerable damage in a very record amount of time.

Raphael had been nearly livid when he had come to Her with their transgression. They had, single-handedly, destroyed a dam he had set up himself to create the lake in the garden.

God managed a small smile for the two fledglings.

"So," She began, "I am guessing we all know why we are here?"

"Are you going to take Juriel away now?" Aziraphale piped up immediately.

God frowned at the question. "Why would I take your friend away, Aziraphale?"

"You took Haniel away."

"Haniel?"

Raphael turned his attention to his creator as She looked up at him. The only thing missing in the exchange was any actual conversation, for neither said so much as a single word. Slowly God finally turned back to face the two fledglings.

"Your old trainer?" God asked Aziraphale.

The fledgling nodded, fighting back tears in his eyes.

God smiled at him. "Haniel had other work to do, little one. I am sorry you miss him. But sometimes these things can not be avoided. But Aziraphale," She continued leaning forward slightly as She fixed her attention on the fledgling, "you have to understand; throughout our existence, others will come and go. Some will stay longer than others, but all of them will bring something unique and useful into our lives. This is what we must remember and try to hold on to"

"But I miss him." The fledgling nearly broken into tears as he quickly wiped one away. "I don't understand why he had to leave."

God smiled kindly at the little angel. "I am sure you don't." She replied. "Because you are too young. But know that one day you may see your friend again. But in the meantime, you gained something else, did you not?"

Aziraphale thought for a moment.

"Did you not get to meet Vangelis?" God asked.

Aziraphale brightened just a little. He liked Vangelis, that much was true. And he suddenly realized without losing Haniel, he would never have been moved into Vangelis' group.

"And what about your other friend?" God nodded slightly to Juriel, who was still cautiously watching the tower of red robes. "You would never have met Juriel if you had not been placed in your new group."

That revelation did not meet with the same happy realization as Aziraphale lowered his head.

"And now I have to lose him?" he ask.

God stared questioningly at the little angel. "Again, why should you have to lose your friend?"

"Because of what happened...in the garden."

God leaned back in Her chair. "Well, that certainly is a matter for discussion, Aziraphale. But I don't think anything so sever as separating the two of you is warranted."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Her in response to the announcement. Two of them hopeful and one accompanied by the same frown that had not left his face since he entered the room.

"What would that serve here?" God ask, thought Aziraphale and Juriel remained silent, unsure if the question was meant for them.

They could see the red haired arch angel's frown deepen although he turned his attention back to them.

"So," God continued, "I suppose the question is what is to be done with you?"

"We didn't mean for the dam to break." Aziraphale put in by way of explanation.

"We were only trying to help the plants at the bottom of the hill." Juriel spoke up for the first time.

The comment drew the tall angel's attention directly to him. Noticing the change, Juriel focused as much of his attention as he could on God, not liking suddenly being under the red haired arch angel's direct scrutiny.

"The plants?" God ask.

Both fledglings nodded quickly.

"We were walking through the garden..."

The tower of red robes pulled itself up a bit straighter at the statement. But God waved a hand at him.

"We are getting that." She stated.

Juriel tried again. "We were walking along a path; it was more of a dry creek bed. And there had been plants growing on either side of it. At one time, they were probably lush and happy, content in their place. But then someone took the water away." He added with a bit of anger. "And they were wilted, some of them dying. All we wanted to do was help them get their water back."

God sighed as She studied the two. "Your motives were admirable." She finally stated. "But that does not excuse what you did. Not only did you destroy the lake, which several others had worked very hard to create, but you destroyed a large portion of the northern garden, which I worked very hard to create. And as Raphael has pointed out, you had no business being in the garden to begin with." God leaned over Her desk. "So again, the question is, what am I to do with the two of you?"

"But we didn't mean any harm." Juriel piped up again. "It was an accident."

"And we could fix it." Aziraphale offered.

God turned to the littler angel. "Fix it?" She ask with a small smile. "You are two little angels, and that is an awfully big mess."

"But we can try." Aziraphale pressed on.

Picking up on his friend's direction, Juriel joined into the offer.

"The dam will take some work." He surmised quickly. "But once the hole is fixed, the lake will refill. And maybe...maybe we can figure out some way for water to be allowed to still flow down the creek bed so the plants get water. So they don't dry out again."

God glanced up at the Arch Angel standing next to her desk, who only gave a deep sigh.

Smiling She turned back to the two fledglings. "Very well," She stated after a few moments. "You have offered to correct your mistake and I accept that. In your free time, you will both work under the direct supervision of the angels administering work in the garden. Know that all of them report directly to Raphael, who answers only to me. Therefore, your work is not completed until he is satisfied with it."

Neither fledgling missed the small smile that crept over the arch angel's features as he glanced down at them.

"And once you have corrected your error," God continued, "both of you will be banned from the garden until further notice."

Both fledglings looked as thought the most precious thing in the world had just been taken away from them. But they both equally knew better than to try to argue any point regarding it. Instead they both simply hung their heads and nodded.

"Very well. Report back to Vangelis. He will be notified of your circumstances and deal with you accordingly."

Sliding off their respective chairs, Juriel was headed for the door when Aziraphale stopped suddenly in front of him, causing him to nearly run into him.

Turning back to God behind her desk, but not looking up, Aziraphale cautiously spoke up, "Could I ask something?"

Juriel quickly jabbed him in the ribs. But God instead turned Her attention back to the littler fledgling with a smile.

"One question," She advised, "then off to your training."

Aziraphale brighten slightly, but still kept his head down out of respect. The question had been on his mind since they were in the garden. "The water that fell from the sky..."

"The rain?" God ask.

Aziraphale looked up suddenly with a broad smile without thinking, but then quickly looked back down again, sure he had made a great transgression.

"Did you like it?" God ask when the fledgling said nothing more.

Aziraphale quickly nodded, the nervous tremor not completely out of his voice. "It was...it was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was cool, and comforting...until the noise came."

"Thunder is just part of rain, Aziraphale" God explained patiently. "It's nothing to be afraid of."

"Scared a few feathers out of my wings." Juriel commented softly.

God smiled at the two. They were definitely going to be a handful.

"Off to your training now," She told them. "And Aziraphale," God added as the two turned to leave, "I liked your newest drawing very much." She stated, handing the now wrinkled paper back to him with the bright green star on it.

The littler angel broke into a smile as he reached for his drawing.

"My star!" He cried happily. "You found it!"

"Well," God answered, giving the angel next to Her desk a sideways glance, "Someone found it. But the point is, you have it back."

"Thank you." Was the only thing Aziraphale could think to say.

"And Aziraphale," God added as the two headed for the doors, "the new creatures, the ones that fly; I should like to see your ideas on them. Perhaps you can draw me a few pictures?"

Aziraphale nodded happily as he clutched his drawing in his hands, his friend pulling him out the doors.


End file.
